Baseball America’s Top 10 Prospects: Oakland Athletics

Other than Weeks, I can't really argue with those 10. I might switch Cunningham with Cardenas and Simmons with Mazzaro.

11-20?

11. Josh Donaldson
12. Fautino de los Santos
13. Sean Doolittle
14. Josh Outman
15. Henry Rodriguez
16. Rashun Dixon
17. Brett Hunter
18. Corey Brown
19. Arnold Leon
20. Matt Sulentic

Danny, do you know when FDLS is getting back on the mound?

Danny, Did you mean Weeks is too low or too high?

I'm not a big Sulentic guy nor Brown, but I kinda like Nino Leyja. He seems mysterious. Also Robin Rosario although Badler said he wouldn't make the Top 30. Carlos Hernandez could be Mario Ramos but his numbers are pretty tough to ignore.

Friggin Badler didn't answer any of my questions...

Danny, do you know when FDLS is getting back on the mound?

From Badler's chat: "In Fautino's case, he just started his throwing program, he'll probably start throwing live BP and bullpens in spring training and the aim is for him to be back in live minor league games by June."

Danny, Did you mean Weeks is too low or too high?

Too high, I thought, but not by much. I'd probably put Donaldson ahead of him.

Brown strikes out way, way too much, but his power is excellent and he walks a fair amount. I think he has an outside shot at a Gorman Thomas/Greg Vaughn career with the bat.

Sulentic was terrible in 2007, but he rebounded nicely last year to put up a .850 OPS in Stockton. I don't really know anything about Rosario or Hernandez, but Hernandez apparently hits 90 mph consistently--which, IIRC, is much better than Ramos.

Doesn't Donaldson basically have to stay at C to be a major leaguer. His bat doesn't seem good enough to make it as a 1B, although I guess he could be Hatteberg.

Pretty much, though I guess they tried him at 3B a bit. He didn't start catching until 2006, which makes it easier to explain away to passed balls. I'm sure they'll give him every chance to learn the position.

Pretty much, though I guess they tried him at 3B a bit. He didn't start catching until 2006, which makes it easier to explain away to passed balls. I'm sure they'll give him every chance to learn the position.

There's a really good chapter by Tango in this year's THT Annual that argues compellingly that if you have a hitter with a decent to good bat who's not particularly good defensively at any position, you should make him learn catcher, because with a lot of practice, most players tried at catcher are not worse than -10 to -20 in the field, while players who are even passable offensively at other positions are worth way more than that on offense at C.

Isn't -10 to -20 pretty bad? That sounds like a lot to give up just to get a bat into the lineup that isn't good enough to make it anywhere else.

Well if you have a decent to good bat you're going to be very good offensively as a catcher (minus whatever you lose from catching fatigue I guess) which might turn you into a league average C as opposed to a below avg 3B or 1B.

The positional adjustment from a catcher to a 1B is around 20 runs per season, so I guess an average fielding 1B would be equally valuable as a -20 catcher (though his pitchers probably wouldn't agree).

Donaldson playing 3b wasn't really "trying" him there. That is his natural position. He has the tools for catcher, he is athletic and can throw.
If he fails at catching he will be a 3b. He isn't a 1b/c/dh type.

He played SS in high school and 3B for a year in college. Was he good at 3B?

There's a really good chapter by Tango in this year's THT Annual that argues compellingly that if you have a hitter with a decent to good bat who's not particularly good defensively at any position, you should make him learn catcher, because with a lot of practice, most players tried at catcher are not worse than -10 to -20 in the field, while players who are even passable offensively at other positions are worth way more than that on offense at C.

Maybe. Depends on how much time he has to expend, and how much work he has to put in. If learning catcher isn't going to consume all his time, time that could be spend working on other aspects of his game, sure. If, OTOH, he finds learning catcher very difficult, all that time spent on learning the new position could affect the development of his other skills.

I guess it depends on the individual player. Different guys have different capacities to learn new physical skills.

Maybe. Depends on how much time he has to expend, and how much work he has to put in. If learning catcher isn't going to consume all his time, time that could be spend working on other aspects of his game, sure. If, OTOH, he finds learning catcher very difficult, all that time spent on learning the new position could affect the development of his other skills.

I guess it depends on the individual player. Different guys have different capacities to learn new physical skills.

Sure, that's why there's the caveat that that's what's happened with guys who have stuck with it, the most prominent example being Mike Piazza, a marginal 1B who made the transition. Just off the top of my head, the best candidate in MLB would be Sandoval if Molina weren't blocking him. But maybe he could get time there to practice this year without throwing him into the fire, and work on flipping Molina.

4 A's make BA's "Best of the Rest" list (top 11 AL prospects that didn't make their organization's list), including Donaldson and a remark about his progress as a catcher:

Josh Donaldson, c, Athletics: offensive catcher with power and plate discipline, and the former third baseman is making strides behind the plate.

Sean Doolittle, 1b, Athletics: capable of hitting for average with maybe 20 homer per season and Gold Glove-caliber defense.

Corey Brown, cf, Athletics: legitimate power to all fields, and while he may not hit for a high average, he runs well and has a chance to stay in center field.

Henry Rodriguez, rp, Athletics: sporadic command and iffy changeup make him more suited for the bullpen, where he could be a closer relying on his heater and hard slider.

Does Tango's analysis factor in any impact of catching on the player's offense? Is there any good evidence on whether playing catcher actually hurts a player's offensive performance?

Sure, that's why there's the caveat that that's what's happened with guys who have stuck with it, the most prominent example being Mike Piazza, a marginal 1B who made the transition. Just off the top of my head, the best candidate in MLB would be Sandoval if Molina weren't blocking him. But maybe he could get time there to practice this year without throwing him into the fire, and work on flipping Molina.

* shrug *. My point is that until the player actually spends time doing it, you won't know whether he can do it or not.